


Two Time Travelling Archaeologists Walk into a Bar

by hhertzof



Category: Bernice Summerfield (Big Finish Audio), Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who: Virgin New Adventures - Various Authors, Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio), Sarah Jane Smith (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Character Death Fix, Drunken Archaeologists, Fix-It, Gen, Manipulative Bastards, Misses Clause Challenge, Storytelling, Time War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 19:12:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/601146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhertzof/pseuds/hhertzof
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two time travelling archaeologists, getting drunk, telling stories and piecing together the past and the future. As one does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Once We Were Standing Still in Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aralias](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aralias/gifts).



> Good summaries of the Sarah Jane Audios can be found at the Doctor Who Research Guide. [Buried Secrets](http://www.drwhoguide.com/sj_06.htm) is the first story in the second series and starts the Book of Tomorrows/Orbis Postremo storyline which ends on a cliffhanger in [Dreamland](http://www.drwhoguide.com/sj_09.htm).
> 
> For plot purposes, assume the book version of _Human Nature_ to be the canonical one.

"It was a story of romance and high adventure and derring-do. Of a war that spanned eons and galaxies. Of brave women, beautiful men, and lovely, lovely scotch." This last was said to the bartender as he brought over another round. "But perhaps I should begin at the beginning. Once upon a time there was a planet called Gallifrey," Benny said dreamily.

"I've heard of Gallifrey," River interrupted.

Benny downed her drink. "But have you been there?" She forged on without waiting for an answer. "Neither have I. But I'm sure you've heard of the legendary Braxiatel collection."

"That's a story archaeologists tell. It doesn't exist," River said in a way that made Benny think she didn't believe what she was saying.

"It doesn't exist now, but once I used to work there, collecting artefacts for Irving Braxiatel himself." Benny stared at her empty glass as if she expected it to fill itself.

"Manipulative git. Good riddance, I say." A hand reached over their drinks to signal the bartender for another round.

Benny shoved the man out of the way with the playful familiarity of long acquaintance. "River, this is my husband, Jason. Jason," Benny said pointedly,"finds these conferences rather boring, so he'll probably spend the entire time in the bar, buying drinks and letting me pay for them and watching the football or something. He claims he doesn't miss this time period at all, but he insisted on coming along anyway. We were just discussing 20th century relics."

Jason gave her an appropriately horrified look. "Wait a minute. Isn't this the 20th century?"

"Early 21st. Close enough, sweetie." River gave him her scariest smile, the one that always freaked out the Doctor, and watched as he made a hasty retreat to another area of the bar. "We've spent the entire conference in the bar," she pointed out, once he'd left. She nodded to the bartender as he poured out their drinks.

"But that's different. We're making valuable contacts with fellow archaeologists and sharing pertinent information about our findings," Benny offered. No matter what the century, some things never changed.

"Good point." River clinked her glass with Benny's.

"Where were we? Ah, yes, the Braxiatel collection. Brax, as you may know, was a Time Lord, and also, as Jason so neatly put it, a manipulative git. You wouldn't believe some of the things he put me through." She paused and glared at her empty glass. "Another round. And this time leave the bottle." She turned back to River. "The collection was actually lost some time before the war, through a long and convoluted series of events that have no bearing on this story. We also won't discuss the bit where Brax manipulated us all so that we thought my son had killed Jason. Or maybe he had. That's the problem with rewriting history when you're in the middle of it. You never know which bloody version is the right one. Long story short, the Time War started and Brax had pulled me and Adrian and Bev and Peter right back into his web, using us as agents where a Time Lord might be noticed. And then, when it became clear that the Time Lords were losing, he called me into his office, such as it was, and told me he had a job for me. Not as a soldier or a spy, but to retrieve one last artefact." River seemed interested enough, so Benny continued.

* * *

> "Is there word from the Doctor?" I asked as I helped myself to the scotch on Brax's desk.
> 
> "Not yet." Brax had his back to me. "And Romana says that she thinks the Council is going to revive Rassilon. Madness."
> 
> "If he can stop the Daleks-" I started to say.
> 
> Brax swung around to glare at me. "He can stop the Daleks, but at what cost? The last thing the universe needs is an all-powerful _insane_ Time Lord meddling in events."
> 
> "Said the pot to the kettle," I snapped without thinking. "If this keeps up, the Daleks will leave us no place to run. They're bound to come here sooner or later."
> 
> "Benny, you _know_ me. There's no point in apologising now for anything I've done, but I want to make it very clear to you that Rassilon scares me."
> 
> That stopped me short. There wasn't much that terrified Brax. His backup plans had backup plans. Even now, backed into a corner on one of the few worlds where history was still untouched by the war he was still working all the angles. "What does that have to do with me?"
> 
> "If Rassilon is revived, Romana will resign in protest - leave both the High Council and the government in exile and she, Leela and Narvin will need to drop out of sight. They'll need transport off New Tenebras - Bev can handle that. I'll need you to find a manuscript."
> 
> "Just like old times," I joked, and Brax gave me a dark look. "I imagine you're looking for a specific manuscript, not the first one I happen upon. Probably something that appears to be a manuscript but is, in reality, a living creature, a religious artefact or perhaps, to be used as loo roll."
> 
> That earned me another dark look from Brax. "The second, actually, but it's real purpose was a trap. Not for us or for anyone we know. You can't grab it before it's been sprung because Rassilon _will_ notice."
> 
> "Who or what was it for?" I asked, not expecting an answer.
> 
> Brax surprised me. "I don't know. What I do know is this - back when Rassilon first harnessed the Eye of Harmony and the powers of the Time Lords, he searched throughout history for what he perceived as threats to our power and dealt with them - the early history of the Celestial Intervention Agency is littered with events of this nature. Whole planets' histories were thrown off course or disappeared entirely. The situation with Earth was _odd_ though. Your planet doesn't develop time travel until the 51st century, and yet there was some interesting CIA activity on Earth right around this time, before Earth becomes a power to be reckoned with. The 21st century is when it all changes," he added, as though it were a private joke. "And this woman, whoever she is, may be at the centre of those changes."
> 
> "I can't help but think the fact that we're _on_ 21st century Earth isn't a coincidence," I said sarcastically. "But why set a trap for one specific person. By the 26th century won't everything be different?"
> 
> "There are so many tipping points, Benny. People change things with what they say and do, you know that as well as I do. Kill Hitler or Einstein or Benjamin Franklin and what happens?"
> 
> "The world changes. Time changes." Suddenly, I understood what Brax was getting at. "You think this person might be the one to change the world. And that makes her dangerous. Makes Rassilon think that by changing her timeline, he can strike at the Daleks." Or at us. A chill ran down my spine. If it had been something that _Rassilon_ regarded as a threat, no wonder Brax was spooked enough to be talkative.
> 
> "I don't like surprises. I need to know the details of this trap and more importantly, I need to track down the person whose influence Rassilon thinks will make such a difference in the centuries to come."
> 
> "You don't know?" That was alarming.
> 
> "He identified her a long time ago, but hid it well. It took me centuries to realise that it wasn't just another nonsensical manuscript that had attracted a doomsday cult. What do you know about the Orbus Postremo?"
> 
> "The Orphans of the Future? I never paid much attention to them. Group of religious nutters waiting for their Herald to return and go back in time to fix the past. Very popular during the Dalek wars. Including this one." I looked at Brax, with a sudden horrified thought. "It's not me, is it?"
> 
> "It's not you. You were born about 600 years too late."
> 
> I breathed a sigh of relief. There was always the chance that he was lying, but that was a chance I'd have to take. "Do I have time to do some research on the cult?"
> 
> "That's what you'll be doing first. Once you know who, you'll need to get closer to the end of the trap. The book's pages were scattered but Narvin thinks that they were collected at some point in the early 21st century, when the prophesied events were supposed to happen, and then the book just disappears out of history. All we have is a last name - Smith. Ms Smith. Her first name was lost with the Matrix."
> 
> "Not particularly helpful, that. So I find out when these miraculous events were supposed to take place, find out who the Herald _is_ and then get close enough to the event to steal the book without Rassilon knowing, all the while watching the skies for the Daleks. It's only a matter of time before they turn their eyestalks toward Earth." To be honest, compared to some of Brax's assignments, it sounded dead easy.
> 
> "Earth will be safe for a little while at least." Brax didn't clarify his statement, but he clearly knew something I didn't and that would have to be enough for now. There were times when Brax's instinct for self-preservation came in handy.
> 
> Something pinged on Brax's computer. "Bev and the others have left. Here." He handed me a small box.
> 
> I flipped open the lid and had to bite down hard. "Jason's and my wedding rings. You bastard."
> 
> "You're leaving Time Lord protection. You won't forget - you're too deeply embedded in the war at this point - but Earth may change around you. I think you'd better take both rings. Just in case." He turned back to the window, ending the interview.
> 
> I stared at the rings for a moment before picking them both up and shoving them in my pocket. He'd strung me along before with hints I might be able to get Jason back and I always fell hard. This time was no different. I stalked out of his office and back to my room, wondering where one would start to look for a secret doomsday cult.


	2. I Was Looking Out the Window, I Should Have Looked at Your Face Instead

"Another bottle." River said to the bartender. "Perhaps we should find somewhere a little less crowded."

Benny nodded, glancing around at the number of people that had gathered in the bar. "Professor Jones' lecture on Archaeology during World War II must have finished. I meant to go to that." She didn't sound terribly regretful, but she waved at the elderly man who she now spotted at the far end of the bar. "Jason seems to have found some admirers." Mostly beautiful young women, of course. She didn't know how he did it. "Make that two bottles, and we can snag that corner." She gestured to two overstuffed chairs set facing a small table.

River collected the bottles from the bar while Benny went over and tapped Jason on the shoulder. "We're going over there. Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Jason mock-pouted. "There are things you wouldn't do?"

Benny was tipsy enough to laugh at this. She'd probably regret that blanket permission in the morning, but for now she just followed River through the crowds of people without comment. 

"Where were we?" Benny carefully poured scotch into both glasses.

River put the other bottle on the table and moved her chair a little closer. "You'd just been sent to find the Book of Tomorrows. That cult is still around in my time," she added, "making prophecies; waiting for their Herald, who may or may not be sleeping under a hill; and generally being annoying."

"Ah, right. The lost manuscript. After this, you'll have to tell me how _you_ met Sarah, River," Benny said as she slumped into one of the chairs.

"It's a much shorter story. She picked me up off the streets, and brought me home to my parents. Before my parents could find me," River said briskly.

"Temporal paradox?" Benny asked as though it were the most logical explanation.

"Exactly," River replied.

"The story of my life. Brax was fond of them."It couldn't be that simple, but Benny wasn't about to quibble. Instead, she sprawled comfortably in one of the well-padded chairs. "We got the confirmation that Rassilon had been freed, and just before I left, Brax came in to talk to me."

> Brax picked up a shirt off the bed with a look of distaste, folded it neatly, set it on the chair on top of the pile of dirty clothes (none of us had figured out how to run the primitive washing machine in the kitchen) and perched carefully on the now clear corner of my bed.
> 
> I turned down the news report on the radio. None of it meant much to me, but this was supposedly my era of expertise, so every little bit helped. "What did Narvin have to say?" I asked. It was rare that the fastidious Irving Braxiatel ventured into my disaster of a bedroom, so it had to be important.
> 
> "Rassilon has co-opted the Doctor for certain _special_ missions. The Doctor said that he would only agree if the Earth was protected. Rassilon accepted with surprising alacrity."
> 
> Even I understood what that meant. "Confirmation that Earth is his endgame, then?"
> 
> "Precisely."
> 
> At least that gave me some time to work. I was about to say something when something on the radio caught my attention, so I reached over and turned it up again. "Sarah Jane Smith will be joining Sir Donald Wakefield or whomever replaces him on the maiden voyage of the Dauntless. With a fortnight to go until the launch, it is still uncertain whether Sir Donald will be well enough to make the flight but a replacement has not been announced. It is unknown how Ms Smith was chosen to take the flight, but her work as a journalist is well known and her descriptions of the flight should be well worth reading."
> 
> The report ended and I turned the radio off.
> 
> "This could be the incident we were expecting," Brax said. "Depending on who the Ms Smith is."
> 
> "Could be, nothing. It is. It has to be," I said firmly. "Sarah Jane Smith. I met her when I was travelling with the Doctor, so I looked her up. In her own time she was best known for her journalism, but by my time she'll be known as this era's Benjamin Franklin. Earth's first intergalactic diplomat and a tinkerer to match the Doctor or Thomas Edison. And if she dies on the Dauntless, none of that will come to pass." I knew a potential temporal paradox when I heard one and it made sense that Brax's Ms Smith would be Sarah Jane - what other Ms Smith in this time had single-handedly opened diplomatic relations with about two dozen neighbouring worlds, the first step in Earth's intergalactic influence.
> 
> Brax put up his hands. "You've convinced me. Book a flight to Nevada and get on to that army base. I have some things to look into. Like what Rassilon could hope to gain by sending her up in an experimental spacecraft."
> 
> I wasn't convinced he hadn't known who we were looking for all along, but it wasn't worth a fight, so I nodded and started considering what clothes I had that were clean enough to pack. Perhaps it was time to give that washing machine another go.


	3. Not Even the Ground Can Keep Us Down

"Sarah Jane Smith. I should have seen that one coming. She does get her fingers into everything, doesn't she?" River asked.

"She learnt it from the Doctor, I think. Wouldn't be the first one of us, or the last." Benny shrugged, refilled her glass and topped off River's while she was at it. The funny thing is that I thought she didn't know about any of this at the time. She was never part of the war, just a pawn, according to Brax. Whether he knew better than he was telling, is something I may never know."

River leaned back in her chair and drawled, "She never struck me as the sort to allow herself to be used. She used to tell Amy and me stories about Benny, back in Leadworth. The dashing archaeologist, Bernice Summerfield and her sometimes husband Jason Kane hunting down artefacts for the Braxiatel Collection. I thought she was making them up for Amy's benefit, but Amy ate them up, whether she believed them or not. They almost made her forget she was obsessively waiting for the Doctor. She was so sure she'd grow up and have adventures like that someday. She did too," River added, almost as an afterthought and with surprising affection.

"I wonder how Sarah knew," Benny said. "But then, she travelled with the Doctor. Who knows where or when they went. Shall I finish the story?"

"Does it have a happy ending?"River asked, though Benny wasn't sure why she cared.

"I think so, but I could be mistaken." Benny took a long drink and continued the story.

* * *

> It turned out to be one of the easiest retrieval missions I'd ever done for Brax. The base was crawling with strangers, so all I needed was the right uniform. It wasn't hard to worm my way into mission control. The space crew thought I was part of Sir Donald's entourage and Nat Redfern, who was Sarah's assistant at the time and the only member of that party who was around much, thought I was part of the space crew. I was avoiding Sarah on the off chance she might recognise me, but Nat turned out to be good company. We spent an entire lunch discussing the dig she'd been on in Florence before I remembered I was undercover as something other than an archaeologist. And it was through Nat that I learnt that Sir Donald Wakefield was the head of the Orbus Postremo.
> 
> Sir Donald was very ill and the rest of the group's attention was split between him and Sarah and his son, Josh's astronaut training, so I had no trouble worming the location of the Book of Tomorrows from Nat, who seemed to find the whole thing a bit dubious, then slipping into Sir Donald's room while he was sleeping and scanning the loose pages. I sent them off to Brax immediately but hung around in case Sarah needed back-up against whatever Rassilon threw at her.
> 
> Before I'd left, Brax had confirmed that the comet nearing the Earth carried the Mandragora Helix, which gave weight to the theory that Rassilon either intended Sarah to die before some of her greatest work could come to fruition or be incapacitated in such a way to make her easier to control. Brax had a third theory - that Rassilon intended her to live but to destroy her world in such a way she'd turn to time travel research to fix it. Any one of those would be disastrous to the Earth, but it was less clear how they would give Rassilon a way to win the war or control the Time Lords.
> 
> The launch went as planned, but that was the last thing that did. We heard gunshots and then static, we gained contact and then lost it again and it became clearer and clearer that the Dauntless was off course, in trouble, and Josh, Sarah, and the pilot were unlikely to survive.
> 
> The moment we lost contact again, I slipped out of the control room and considered my ring. It was designed to travel in time, not space, but it would and had done both. The question was how short a time period would be necessary. I took a deep breath, grabbed the 26th century oxygen pack I'd stowed in a nearby cabinet and activated the ring. Five minutes in the past and fifty miles above the Earth would be disastrous if I got it wrong.
> 
> A moment later I was standing on board the Dauntless, blinded by a bright light.
> 
> "You idiot." It took me a moment to realise that Sarah meant me. She'd taken off her helmet, even though there shouldn't have been enough air left in the cabin, and she was kneeling by the cockpit, which no longer looked as pristine as it had before the launch. There was evidence of several gunshots and wires were sticking out all over. Her back was toward me, and yet was clearly aware of my presence. "If you want to make yourself useful, check on Josh. The pilot's dead," she added crisply. "We've got about five minutes before we get hit by the full force of the Mandragora energy and I need to finish this."
> 
> I couldn't tell what _this_ was, so I countered, "I can get you both out of here." My scanner confirmed there was plenty of air in the cabin - either she'd been lying over the radio or she was a better tinkerer than I had suspected, which would confirm Brax's suspicions that she might be able to come up with a working time travel device or at least go far enough down that path to cause some damage.
> 
> "You can. You won't. This little play has to play out as written."
> 
> "You'll die," I snapped. I didn't understand why she was quarrelling with me. Why wouldn't she be glad of back up?
> 
> "Will I? Or is that what they want you to believe? Perhaps you're the one was intended to die. Or Josh or Ben." Her voice was oddly calm. "Hopefully no one else will die. But the Mandragora Helix must be stopped. I've seen what it can do." She finished whatever she was doing and came over. "How is he?"
> 
> "Alive. Just barely." I noticed patches on the metal. "The ship isn't in as bad shape as you suggested over the radio." Might as well live dangerously.
> 
> "I had to make it sound good. They can't know," Sarah replied. "You're not from around here, Professor Summerfield; the people on the ground - they'll need a rational excuse. I'm not the Doctor - I'm 21st century human, like them. I'm not going to get away with his bluster."
> 
> "Benny," I said automatically. "And I don't think you're at all like them." I hoped that would get a smile out of her. It didn't.
> 
> "I am what I am. Like you are. We both became what we needed to be to keep up with the enemies we faced. And now you need to go. This is my fight and the Doctor showed me what to do the last time the Mandragora Helix visited Earth. You can't be found on the ship when it crashes." She paused before adding, "Don't worry, I'll manage to bring it in for a rough but relatively safe landing that should destroy some of the evidence."
> 
> It sounded like she might have a plan to survive this, so I couldn't argue. All I could do was hope that Rassilon didn't throw a spanner in the works. I activated the ring again and arrived right back where I'd left. I lingered for a minute or two in the hall to give the impression of a loo break, and then headed back to the control room.
> 
> I never made it. I woke in a bed on Proximus Prime and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the war was over. The rest would sink in over the days and weeks that followed. Brax had known, damn him, what they were planning. He'd sent us off on trumped up missions so we wouldn't be there with him when it happened.


	4. Only You Can Do What Must Be Done

"So it was all a diversion, while they took down the Daleks and Rassilon at the same time?" River asked, pouring the last of the whisky into her glass.

Benny just sat there for a moment before reaching over and picking up the second bottle of scotch. She refilled her glass. "I thought so for the longest time. Now I don't know. I could have _been_ the diversion for all I know. But Brax, Romana and the others knew that the war had spiralled out of control. It just never occurred to me that they'd take this way out. And I still want to throttle Brax. Even if I did get Jason back in the end."

"I know the feeling." River said. "She did it, you know. The Dauntless. She and Josh Townsend survived the crash. One of the many things she's famous for."

"I'm not surprised. Someday I'd like to know what really happened, but the only one left who might know that is the Doctor and he's not talking." Benny sighed and studied the bottle.

River asked, "Where _is_ Sarah? She should have been here by now."

Bad things happened when Sarah was detained, generally involving someone needing to be rescued or threats to the city, country or world - she was like the Doctor in that way. How many times had, Benny run into her whilst on a mission for Brax? Benny pulled out her mobile and tried Sarah's number. "No answer. I'm getting a message that her phone is out of service. Her phone is never out of service. We chat at least once a week, no matter what century I'm in." Some trickery she'd learnt from the Doctor. Benny kept meaning to ask Sarah how it worked.

River fidgeted with a gadget on her wrist. "The Doctor isn't answering either."

"Looking for me? Benny!" Suddenly there was a man in tweeds with a big smile and strange hair reaching over to give Benny a big hug. "Look at you." He looked suspiciously from one to the other. "You're not telling stories about me, are you?"

"Why would we tell stories about you, sweetie?" River asked. "We're comparing notes about our archaeological exploits. I don't suppose you've seen Sarah?"

"I haven't." He ran an experienced eye over the two of them, and Benny had no doubt he knew exactly how drunk they were. "No, don't get up. I'm sure she's fine. I'll go and find her, you stay here." Both Benny and River started to protest. "I'm sure it's nothing the two of us can't handle. She probably just lost track of time. Or got cornered by alien invaders, but I'm sure that's highly unlikely." He dashed away before they could protest, moving surprisingly fast through the crowd in the bar.

Benny rolled her eyes at his back and then refilled both her glass and River's. "Back to the story?"

"Why not? If he needs us, he'll call us." River sprawled back in her chair and waited for Benny to begin.

"The next bit I heard second-hand, from Sarah herself when- well, we'll get to that."

* * *

> Backtracking just a little, I forgot to mention that Sir Donald passed away shortly before the flight and his son had become the the leader of the Orbus Postremo. The fight that had broken out on the Dauntless had been between the two factions, the Crimson Chapter, which had been trying to destroy Sarah and the White Chapter, as represented by Josh.
> 
> She wouldn't talk about what happened up there. Not when she told me this story or any time thereafter. What she did tell me is what happened after they returned to Earth.
> 
> Once Josh had recovered enough to have visitors, Sarah lost no time in insisting on reading the Book of Tomorrows herself on the grounds that she should know what else was _prophesied_ her. He apparently put up a mild protest, but eventually gave in, thinking it would do no harm. 
> 
> Sarah's other work - defending the Earth from aliens - wasn't something she talked to Nat and Josh about, but despite what Brax and I thought, she'd heard the whispers and seen the signs of war.
> 
> Perhaps my appearance at the base or on the Dauntless alerted her to the possibility that she was being manipulated. Perhaps she'd known when she agreed to the whole thing. Either way Sarah soon discovered that the whole manuscript was a lot more than it seemed. She'd suspected, of course, when she realised the connection between Duke Giuliano and the book of prophecy which described her visit to his court with the Doctor, but there were other things in there too. References to other adventures with the Doctor, stories she'd covered, places she'd been and things she'd seen that only two or three people could have told Giuliano about, including things that had happened long after they'd met.
> 
> Digging a little deeper she found someone - some Time Lord had left clear markers that the book had been tampered with by another Time Lord. A warning, perhaps, against someone who could rewrite her history in an instant. She had enough experience out of her own century to know that "Brax" meant Irving Braxiatel and she found, encoded in a script she'd learnt on a distant planet a thousand years in her future another name - Rassilon. No context, just the name. However, she had been one of the companions pulled back to Gallifrey to play the game of Rassilon so that name was all she needed to know. Two Time Lords playing chess with her life with that book as the board.
> 
> Sarah also had felt the shift at that moment when the Time Lords and the Daleks were trapped, and knew what it meant. She also understood, as you and I do, how things- important things, can linger. They had made this book too important to be forgotten. She made scans of the pages, unbeknownst to Josh, with a device that was a decade ahead of its time.
> 
> Once they were both cleared by the doctors, their little group prepared to separate. Nat went back to archaeology, Josh to take up the reins of his father's corporate empire and Sarah told them she had some things to do.
> 
> Perhaps it was her tone of voice because Josh jumped on that. "We've never been able to make heads nor tails of even half of what is in that book and even in the time leading up to the launch, you were claiming that it had nothing to do with you."
> 
> "Of course you couldn't. It wasn't meant for you. Not entirely. Someone went to a great deal of trouble to leave me messages hidden in the text." I can't believe Sarah told them this much, but that's what she said she'd said.
> 
> "You're saying it was meant for you. So you're finally admitting you're the woman described in the manuscript? That you're the Herald." Nat couldn't believe she'd fallen prey to this nonsense. "And how could anyone leave you messages in a manuscript written hundreds of years ago. Did the doctors check you for brain damage?"
> 
> "It's complicated." Sarah decided the conversation was at an end. Or maybe she glossed over more arguing. She can be almost as oblique as Brax when she wants to be.


	5. Are You Really Just a Shadow of the Man That I Once Knew?

Benny paused. "We seem to be out of scotch. Lovely, lovely scotch," she added dreamily despite looking more alert than the comment suggested. At least, she hoped she did.

"I'll get it," River said, as she got to her feet. To Benny's surprise, she appeared to be reasonably sober, despite matching her drink for drink.

River was surprisingly quick at the bar, or perhaps Benny had zoned out a little. She refilled both glasses, and said, "The whole Dauntless thing is more of a myth than history, when I come from. I only know they survived because I saw the thing on tv in this time. But no one seems to be sure how they survived the crash. Shortly after they were pulled from the wreckage, it burst into flames. Afterwards, they couldn't tell what damage had been caused by the explosion and what had been caused by the crash." River frowned. "The engine shouldn't have been able to cause an explosion like that. I remember there were rumours of sabotage at the time but I never been able to track down what came of them. I should really ask Sarah if they ever figured that out. Though, from what you said, it might have been Sarah, herself covering up whatever really happened up there."

Benny smiled. "I've done that a time or two. Some of the things we deal with, it's best not to leave evidence behind.".

"I'll toast to that. Nothing better than a good explosion."

The two of them clinked their glasses together and then Benny picked up the story again.

* * *

> This is where I come back into the story again. Less than a fortnight after she got back to England, I contacted her. I still had the rings, remember, so I had no trouble returning to the 21st century, and like Sarah I'd found traces of Brax's machinations. "I have some research to do. Would you like to come with me?" 
> 
> Once again, she made no pretence that she was surprised to see me. "Of course. I've been expecting you." Sarah said as though it were the most reasonable thing in the world. Which it was, if one knew Brax.
> 
> Our first stop was Oxford University, in the Maths department. Sarah led me through the halls as though she'd been there before and perhaps she had. It looked like most of the other universities I'd been to, but then all universities look the same after a while.
> 
> The interview didn't last long. 
> 
> The Professor - Alice Carroll was her name - was right where we were told she would be. I'd never met her before in person, but aside from her hair, cut just above her shoulders, she was indeed a dead ringer for the former President of Gallifrey. 
> 
> We'd compared notes in Sarah's car, so I was surprised when she didn't find some way to turn the conversation around to fobwatches, but she didn't. Perhaps meeting Ms Carroll was enough.
> 
> The interesting bit as we were leaving. The Professor headed to another meeting and Sarah acted as if we were leaving but we doubled back to speak to a woman who had been working quietly in a corner during the interview. I'd assumed she was one of the Professor's students, but when we entered the room again, Sarah spoke to her. "Leela."
> 
> The woman looked startled but controlled it. "You must have me confused with someone else."
> 
> "I doubt that. You are Leela of the Sevateem. You travelled with the Doctor after I left him," Sarah said. "You recognised my name when I introduced myself to Professor Carroll." She gave the name an odd emphasis as though she suspected it wasn't the woman's real name.
> 
> "You were the President's bodyguard. President Romana," I added, just to be clear.
> 
> "What are you doing here?" Leela asked in a completely different tone. "You should not have been able to find us."
> 
> "Brax always have a plan, you know that. Did you think he would be content with this solution forever?" I countered. "But it is your choice in the end. I won't interfere with your life here again, if that's what you want, but I need to know that that is what you want."
> 
> "It is. To remember the world she has lost would be a cruelty. She is happy here with her studies and her tutoring," Leela said, looking slightly mollified. "We will be here if you need us, but it is best not to dredge up old memories."
> 
> "I understand. Thank you, Leela." Sarah turned and left and I followed her.
> 
> The second interview was even less eventful than the first. A civil servant. She asked the man a few questions about his job, claiming she was doing a feature on his department and I mostly kept quiet. This was a man who I'd only heard of. Narvin, the other major player in Romana and Brax's plan to contain Rassilon.
> 
> And then we came to the third. Irving Braxiatel. Of course he was using his own name, he's too vain not to. He ran a pub in Ealing and we must have got there after the lunch rush because the pub was almost empty. We sat at the bar and ordered lunch and while we were waiting, Sarah struck up a conversation with the man behind the bar. This time she did bring up fobwatches almost immediately. I expected to have to add some persuasion of my own, but Brax brought it out without even questioning her motives.
> 
> "I can't remember not being broken," he said. "I've tried to have it repaired but it never works."
> 
> "Let me see." Sarah pulled it towards her and inspected it with a magnifying glass before releasing the latch and opening it. She stared at the insides for a second before shaking her head. "It's beyond me, I'm afraid."
> 
> I kept quiet and let her speak. There was always a chance, Brax was just pretending to forget, so I just watched him, but I saw none of the guile I expected to see in his movements. This man believed the history Brax had written for him.
> 
> "I'm not surprised," he said. "I've had experts look at it and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it either." He reached out, took it from her hands and snapped it shut in one smooth motion. He moved away to talk to someone who had just walked in, making it clear that the conversation was over.
> 
> We finished our meal and got back into the car.
> 
> "I don't think he was faking it," I offered before she asked.
> 
> "The watch is genuine," Sarah said softly. "I looked inside. His memories." She shook her head as if to clear it. "I'm just going to have to live with that for now. So now what? Do we free them?" she asked as if it were my decision.
> 
> I looked at her. "What would you do, if you were me?
> 
> "Prove that I'm still capable of human pettiness," she replied, only half joking. "He's still using us, you know. He expects us to free him."
> 
> "And you don't think that's a good idea."
> 
> "There's a secret I stumbled upon. During the war, Rassilon was nudging my timeline around a bit. _Making_ me important. I ended up in the right place at the right time and I started to notice a pattern. I think I know what he planned to do and what he hoped to accomplish from it and-" Sarah hesitated. "It would affect the fate of the Earth and not in a good way. I'm not ready for Brax to know. Or even the Doctor, though he'll figure it out in time."
> 
> "Do you think I'm going to tell them?" I asked, wondering if she even trusted me.
> 
> "I think the fewer people who know this the better," Sarah replied. She looked suddenly tired. "But I'm not getting any younger, either. Let's compromise. I won't give up the secret just yet, but I'll give you two names. River Song and John Chesterton."
> 
> "Fair enough," I wasn't sure it was, but at least it meant that there were other people who knew whatever this secret of Sarah's was. It wouldn't die with her. "So we don't free them?"
> 
> "Not yet." Sarah turned away to look out the window. "Seven years should do it," she said, half to herself. "Seven years to strengthen my position, _Earth's position_ and maybe we'll be ready when everything falls apart again." She suddenly turned to look at me. "I'm sorry. I'm used to being the keeper of secrets, I suppose. There aren't many people on 21st century Earth I can talk to about this. It's just that if the Time Lords find out, they won't consider the consequences."
> 
> "Brax is going to be upset when we do free him, if we wait," I said, though I agreed with Sarah. "Do your plans cover that?"
> 
> "I think that if we give ourselves seven years, we might have a chance of arranging things so that he has fewer holds over either of us." Sarah looked at me. "There's another thing. I knew a woman in New York, many years ago called Amelia Williams. She was also one of the Doctor's former companions. Amy had been born in the late 20th century, but ended up living in her own past. The first time I met her, she asked me to do her a favour - find a girl and bring her back to England. Later I'd learn that the girl was her own daughter and she was preventing a temporal paradox, but this was before I'd ever met the Doctor. And this left Amy and me entangled in a causal loop, because she knew I'd done it before she ever asked me.
> 
> "What does that have to do with this mess?" I asked, finally. "Or with Brax?"
> 
> "There's some weird temporal stuff going on with that family. The sort the CIA would have stopped if they were still around and I'm entangled in it." Sarah smiled wryly. "On top of the whole Herald thing, which seems to have taken on a life of its own, like Zagreus did, my relationship with causality is a bit skewed at the moment."
> 
> "And you think you can take advantage of that." It made a surprising amount of sense, given what Brax had done to me.


	6. You Probably Thought or Even Wished That I Was Dead

River studied Benny, "So Brax survived. And it sounds like Sarah knew a lot more about what was going on than anyone gave her credit for."

"The funny thing is, I suspect Brax and Sarah are alike- oh, she's human and has much more compassion, but as this proved, she could be ruthless when she's defending her own." Benny stopped as something suddenly clicked. "That was you - the girl she brought back to England."

"It's all intertwined. She never told me about Rassilon, but from what you said, I wouldn't be surprised if she was right about his plans. John Chesterton - why do I know that name?" 

"He's a singer." Jason said, pulling up a chair and helping himself to the last of their scotch. "Just a little before my time. Called himself Johnny Chester or Chess."

River nodded. "I think I heard him on the radio growing up. One of those musicians who never seems to go away completely. I wonder." She didn't elaborate about what she was wondering about, but instead changed the subject. "So, tell me more about Brax,"

"You know how the Doctor will sometimes set things up like chess pieces and then clear the board in one fell swoop, without bothering to tell you your part in his schemes?" Benny asked her, remembering the Doctor she had travelled with. She knew not all of them were quite that manipulative, but suspected River would understand anyway.

"Yeah. That's the Doctor in a nutshell," River agreed. "Brax is worse."

"Every mission Brax ever sent Benny on was like that. And every time I'd think she'd had enough, we get reeled back in." He looked at Benny suspiciously. "Did I hear you say Brax had survived? So much for a peaceful life. And why didn't you tell me before?"

"You couldn't handle a peaceful life," Benny countered. "You'd find another way to stir up trouble. And I didn't tell you because I didn't want you doing anything rash."

"You say that as though it's a bad thing," River mused. "Nothing wrong with avoiding boredom. Or living dangerously, for that matter."

"I'm all for a peaceful life," Benny said "but I've never been very good at it."

"Neither am I," River said. "Not that I've tried very hard. You wanted to know how I met Sarah? It sounds like it might be relevant to whatever she's up to."

Benny nodded and leaned back in her chair to listen. 

"I'd escaped from my enemies and was living on the streets of New York City when she found me. I didn't know at the time that it hadn't been an accident - she'd been looking for me," River explained. "I'd been kidnapped from my parents as a baby and hadn't had much experience with a normal childhood, so of course I was suspicious of her. I was living on the streets and had been since I'd escaped. It took her ages before I trusted her enough to listen to her stories and I only did that because she started talking about the Doctor."

"He does get his fingers in everywhere, doesn't he?" Jason muttered.

Benny kicked him. "Shut up. I want to hear this."

"The thing is, I'd been-" she hesitated as though she were trying to find the right word, "-conditioned by his enemies to want to kill him, and that conditioning hadn't been broken when I escaped. I thought Sarah could lead me to him."

"It's not a bad guess," Benny said, considering some of the stories _she'd_ heard. "They seem to get their fingers into the same sorts of pies," she added, unconsciously echoing Jason's remark.

River nodded. "She was very careful not to lead me in that direction. In the end, she convinced me to go back to my parents home town and made me promise to stay until I was grown up. She found a foster family to take me in. My real childhood, such as it was, was there in Leadworth growing up alongside my parents."

"I bet they loved that when they found out." Benny considered her own family. "Though if it hadn't been for time travel shenanigans, I never would have met Jason."

"Your loss," he said, so she kicked him again.

River smirked at that, before returning to her story. "So she kept coming by to check up on me, without any warning. She'd just drive in and take me and my friends to lunch and tell us stories. Stories of your adventures with the Braxiatel collection, intergalactic adventures, tales of defending the Earth from invaders. And somehow she made us think we could live those adventures someday."

"Sounds like the Doctor," Benny said. "He teases you with all the things you could see in the great, wide universe and you end up working for a Machiavellian Time Lord with a penchant for complex plans and not telling you anything."

"Are you talking about the Doctor or Brax?" Jason asked. "Because that description fits them both."

"I'm sure the tales were heavily edited but as I said earlier, Amy ate those stories up, even more than I did, I think." River poured herself another glass of scotch, "She'd incorporate them into her Raggedy Doctor tales and make us act them out. She'd met the Doctor as a small child, and by that time she was almost as obsessed about him as I was." She stopped as if she was trying to figure out how to tell the next bit.

Jason took advantage of River's pause to turn to Benny and say, sotto voce, "By edited, she means less sex than in my books."

"There could hardly be more sex than you managed to cram into your books," Benny replied dryly. "River? If he interrupts again, just kick him."

"I didn't stop because of him. I thought of something. I assumed that Sarah had been telling me those stories to prepare me for the return of the Time Lords, but she was also telling Amy. You've heard of the Pandorica, of course. Another truth that turned into legend with the rewriting of history. In this case, history rewritten from Amy Pond's memories."

Benny stared at her. "So you think Sarah was deliberately influencing the version of history that became the _correct_ one?" Benny asked. "So that was her plan. Because she'd met your mother in the future, she knew about the Pandorica."

"But why would Amy have told her about that?" River asked. "Aside from the fact that she talks to everyone she meets about the Raggedy Doctor."

"She already knew I'd travelled with him, remember," Sarah answered from behind Benny's chair, startling Benny.

"How long have you been standing there?" Benny asked. River must have known, but the other woman had given no sign. Whatever was going on, it was clear that she knew more than she was saying

Sarah ignored the question as though it was unimportant. "It's just as bad as you and the Doctor. I met her first in Manhattan, she met me first in Leadworth. We were both acting on future knowledge. And the stories I told your mum had nothing to do with her own life, at least not directly. I didn't want to trigger another paradox."

River nodded as though that made sense to her. "Maybe it's time you explained."

"Before you start, did the Doctor find you?" Benny asked, suddenly remembering that he'd gone off to do just that.

"He's found something else," Sarah said "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

Benny knew exactly what she meant and a chill ran down her spine. "You set him up. He was never supposed to find you. He's going to run into Brax, instead. Or Romana or Narvin. You could have warned me!"

Sarah nodded. "I left clues that will lead him to Brax's pub. I knew it was only a matter of time, so I made sure it was under controlled circumstances. I should have warned you first, but I wasn't sure you'd agree."

Somehow, that didn't matter much. "I always knew Brax couldn't be kept contained for long. I'm just glad you told me before the sky falls on our heads." Benny stared at her. "Are you going to tell me now what you're so afraid he'll find out?"

"The Doctor knows now, or has enough information to piece it together," Sarah said "and we're getting to that part of the story, but there are other things you need to know first.


	7. Between Survival and the Right Thing to Do

"As you know, Amy asked me to bring you back to England," Sarah grabbed an empty chair from a nearby table and sat down. "She knew I'd been the one to do it, so she saw no harm in asking me to. I think she was afraid that if she and your dad interfered directly it would cause a temporal paradox."

"A paradox, a paradox, a most ingenious paradox," Jason sang badly.

Benny glared at him and gave him some money. "Go get us some more scotch. You've drunk it all." This wasn't true, but at least it would keep him busy for a little while. There were times when she wondered why she'd wanted him back so badly. And then they'd end up in bed and she'd remember. "Amy told you about the Pandorica, then?" she asked Sarah.

"We'd both travelled with the Doctor and it seemed insignificant at the time. I just - I started out trying to fix a few things that should have been fixed after the war ended. Bringing Jason back. Alex Campbell, too. Nothing directly to do with my own life, not then. After we discovered some of the Time Lords had survived, my agenda changed a bit. I wanted to make sure that no one else tried what Rassilon had attempted, so I told her the story the Book of Tomorrows."

"Brilliant!" Benny exclaimed. "Use Brax's manipulations against him. It doesn't always work, but I always approve." 

Sarah laughed. "Seven years ago we made a choice to let the status quo stand, knowing it wouldn't stay that way forever. I've had time to set some dominoes up in a neat row, including using Amy to weave in some warning signs to potential dangers from that front, and now I've chosen to knock them down myself rather than wait for someone to knock against them accidentally when I'm not prepared to deal with the fallout." She paused and looked at Benny. "I've made the same sort of choices Brax did along the way, so I feel more lenient towards him for what he did than I should. When you're pushed into a corner, sometimes the only options are bad ones."

"I'd accuse you of using us now, but that isn't really what you did, is it?" Benny asked, not sure whether she was angry or amused. It wasn't as though Sarah had sent her into danger on a whim with limited information, the way Brax did more often than not. "You introduced me to River so we could compare notes. I understand why you didn't want me to know. I know how precarious manipulating time could be and I might have been tempted to have a go myself."

"Nemesis is about to fall upon my head. You two were among those most likely to get caught in the crossfire." Sarah leaned back in her chair and accepted the glass Jason had brought back for her.

Jason filled her glass and then the others, before sitting down again. "What'd I miss?"

"Sarah's responsible for undoing what Brax did to you. Say thank you," Benny ordered.

"Thank you," Jason said obediently. "I just heard this one. How many archaeologists does it take to change a lightbulb?" He didn't seem particularly bothered by the idea that Sarah had rewritten history to save him, but then he rarely seemed bothered by anything.

"That's an old one," Benny protested. "Three, two to piece it together and one to write a paper about how it was used in ancient rituals in lieu of candles. After that everyone believes the paper and no one knows a light bulb's true purpose or how one _changes_ one."

River snorted. "Sad but true, at least by the 51st century." She turned to Sarah. "Where were we?"

"There's living dangerously and there's making severe errors in judgement. Seven years ago, Benny and I agreed that my best course of action was to let sleeping dogs lie while we figured out what to do. But at the time there were things I didn't know. Like the fact that the Doctor had survived the war."

"You didn't tell the Doctor about the others, did you?" River exclaimed. "Bad mistake. He's been in mourning as long as I've known him, and I've known him a very long time indeed."

"I didn't tell him. I knew he was grieving and feeling isolated but I decided to take my own side for once. You never knew the Time Lords, River. He romanticises them now, but they had a way of making unilateral decisions for the _good of the universe_ that were really for their own good. I chose to do the same, to make sure that when they returned they wouldn't be messing with Earth on a whim. And more importantly so that none of them ever got it in their head to attempt what Rassilon did."

"But that won't matter to the Doctor," Benny pointed out.

"You don't need to tell me that. I may lose him as a friend over this, and maybe in the end I made the wrong choice no matter how I justify it. But I also stood before Irving Braxiatel and chose to leave him in a trap."

"That's just good sense," Jason said.

"I was there. I agreed with you that this was the best plan." Benny could see where this was heading.

"Perhaps." Sarah gave Jason a rueful smile. "Whether he forgives us is another question. I know enough about Brax not to want to get on his bad side."

"He's a pussycat," Benny reassured her. "Always lands on his feet, gets into things you wouldn't expect and makes a mess, and is too busy with his own schemes to be bothered with other people's."

"I'm not sure I find any of that comforting." Sarah said. "It doesn't help that if the Doctor and Brax compare notes they'll be able to figure out what Rassilon was planning and they might not approve of the steps I've taken to prevent anyone from even trying to repeat it."

"So you did know what he was planning," Benny said. "You said you had suspicions. Have they been confirmed then? What happened up there, Sarah? It wasn't just the Mandragora Helix that you were worried about when I showed up, was it?"

"Besides the whole being in a damaged space ship miles above Earth with limited air, one man dead and another dying, but we won't mention that," Sarah retorted, before relenting. "The Mandragora Helix was his plan. Rassilon strung my timeline through a series of fixed points. I'm not sure if this was before the war, to keep me in check or during the war in a deliberate attempt to do what he did. Killing me at the wrong time would take a lot of power- and cause a lot of damage with some very interesting side effects."

"That's why he needed the Mandragora Helix," River interrupted. "Power. But wouldn't that have ripped the fabric of time? I've seen what happens when you interfere with a fixed point in history. It's not pretty."

"It did, or started to, before Rassilon was trapped by the Moment. The Cardiff Rift was the last battle scar left behind by the war. It would have done much more damage if he'd succeeded. He wanted to create a new Untempered Schism," Sarah added softly.

The Doctor spoke unexpectedly from behind Benny's chair. "That's why you're so protective of River. Which might even make up for the way you lied to to me." He didn't look like it did.

"It's right there in the job description. Herald of the _"Orphans of the Future"_ , the true Children of Time," Sarah pointed out, "No matter what Davros thought the term meant. Rassilon couldn't resist, though why I should expect subtlety from someone who names all his things the X of Rassilon, I don't know."

"Human Time Lords." River laughed. "He was trying to create a new army."

"Cannon fodder," Sarah spat the words out. "Not that he would have succeeded. The handful that have popped up in lieu of any deliberate influence are mad as a box of cats and probably about as easy to herd. The plan would have collapsed with the first generation, but not in a good way." She turned to the Doctor. "I don't know Romana or Brax, or what they might do with this information, but we don't need more Time Lords, not here.

"I much prefer being unique." River grinned maniacally

The Doctor visibly winced. "I can't see you ever being like anyone else. You've known about this for a while, haven't you, River?" Now that Benny could see him she noticed that his hair was longer and his tie red instead of blue. How long had it taken him before he was willing to talk to them again? She wasn't sure she wanted to know, so she didn't ask out loud.

"She has. So have the others." Sarah frowned at him. "Rassilon thought he could use this as a weapon, so he kept quiet. But your people are prone to see threats to their own power as reasons to write people out of history. I may be paranoid, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't take precautions. The Book of Tomorrows was already an artefact of Rassilon's. I just used it to my own advantage and made the stories he told about me true."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment. "That explains so much." changed the subject. "Are you planning to rejoin the collection, if Brax starts it up again, Benny?"

"Of course she will. Life wouldn't be complete if we weren't working for the man who arranged for me to die to keep his secrets," Jason said half-sarcastically.

"I'll come and visit," River said. "I'm dying to see what he does with the place."

"Remind me to stay in the 21st century that week," Sarah said. "That's one explosion I don't want to see."


	8. You've Seen More Than They Could Ever Know

"D'you want us to stay?" Clyde asked, looking at the man suspiciously.

"It's not necessary. I _can_ take care of myself and if I can't, Benny will defend me. Don't you two have an exam in the morning?" Sarah herded Clyde and Rani out the door. "Besides, Mr Braxiatel doesn't consider himself my enemy and Benny is most definitely a friend."

* * *

"You lied to them," Brax noted, as Sarah led them both up to the attic. "You think I am your enemy."

"Did I?" She stopped on a landing and swung around to look at him. "An enemy implies some sort of threat and therefore a semi-level playing field. You don't see me as an equal or a threat, but as a pawn and as you don't strike me the sort of man who would destroy his toys in a fit of pique if they didn't do what he wanted, I'm safe enough with you." That said, she started up the stairs again.

Benny couldn't help but admire that parry.

Even Brax laughed. "Ms Smith, I am not such a fool as Rassilon and he was threatened enough by you to take precautions. He made two major mistakes, I think."

"Do tell," Benny said. She wasn't sure she believed him and she certainly didn't trust him, but she'd played this game before. A human might have held a grudge, but he was a Time Lord. He could just wait until he outlived her, if he chose.

"One," Brax held up a finger, "he pushed you in the Doctor's direction. This had the advantage of keeping you close but the Doctor talks too much when he's working. You went from just beginning to crack the secrets of artron energy the first time I met you, which you probably don't even remember, to-" he paused and looked around the room, "how long would it take you to build a time travelling device with items you have in this room?"

There was no point in dissembling so Sarah said, "Fifteen minutes tops. But there's a vortex manipulator in the top desk drawer and I'd probably use that instead."

That got a smile out of Brax. Benny could tell he liked Sarah. Probably for the same reason he liked Romana and herself - she was too stubborn to back down. "Always have a back door handy. And a hidden tunnel. I'm sure you could hail a passing spaceship just as easily," she said, knowing it was true.

Sarah didn't deign to reply to that. "And the second?"

"He put you in a box. Like the Doctor, you're a thousand times more resourceful when you're cornered." He paused. "I'm not going to pretend I'm putting all my cards on the table, but then neither are you. You're no pawn - if I'd thought you would follow the path Rassilon set for you blindly, I would never have made you my escape route."

"And now?" Sarah asked. "I did what Rassilon wanted because it needed to be done and nearly lost control of the situation. The rift in Cardiff is proof of that. I didn't do what you wanted and here you stand. I'm not as good at this as you seem to think I am."

"I pride myself on being a very good judge of character, Ms Smith. You could have freed my essence from the watch - the Doctor would have done that, choosing the compassionate route over all else, but you didn't. You could have ignored the clues I left in the Book of Tomorrows intentionally. You could have destroyed me while I was helpless - but while you can be ruthless, you're not- cruel, shall we say?" He studied his fingernails for a moment. "But you did what I would have done. Seven years ago you walked into my pub, came up with an excuse to look at the watch and then left."

"We both know that I did nothing. Why belabour the point?" Sarah asked.

Benny couldn't think of anything relevant to add, so she just watched in fascination.

"I didn't say that you did nothing. In fact, I assume you did the opposite of nothing. You established a potential threat was being held harmless, and you have spent the last seven years building up your strengths and your defences. Whatever you are protecting, whatever Rassilon feared or wanted from you is as safe as you could make it. However, I would also remind you that those of us involved in this conspiracy objected to both his methods and his madness."

"And so, we should give you the benefit of the doubt?" Benny asked in a tone that screamed not bloody likely. 

To her surprise, Brax smiled at that. "Ms Smith is not my enemy, Benny and I don't think you are either. Not because I don't consider either of you a threat, but because my sphere of interest is unlikely to collide with hers. And you have already chosen to come back to the collection, despite all I've done. Gallifrey is gone and the handful of us who are left have no interest in rebuilding what it was. Romana intends to continue her life as Alice Carroll, with Leela by her side. Narvin's character lends itself more to service than ambition. He served Gallifrey once, but an ideal Gallifrey. Queen and country, you would say. He won't mourn what it had become and might even choose to remain in his current role as well. And I will return to the 26th century and rebuild the collection with some of my mistakes wiped clean." Brax always was prone to monologuing.

"Jason, you mean?" Benny asked.

"Jason and you. Bev and Adrian and Peter. I used you all harder than I should have, but sometimes one has to make the hard choices for the greater good. Sarah understands that, I think, perhaps better than you do."

Sarah nodded. "I've been in those situations way too often to point fingers. You're suggesting we just stay out of each other's way. A mutual non-aggression pact?"

"At least for the foreseeable future. After that," he shrugged, "who can tell? But as long as our goals don't conflict, I see no barriers to a peaceful coexistence."

"That sounds reasonable to me." Sarah offered him her hand and he shook it. "Just remember that my influence reaches far beyond the current century and I have a very good sense of how to wield it."

"I am unlikely to forget, Ms Smith," Brax said. "We did have several members of the Orbus Postremo on staff and likely will again. They seem drawn to the collection, or perhaps they're just keeping an eye on me."

If they hadn't been, Benny was sure they would be now. It wasn't like Brax to make a slip like that unless he _wanted_ Sarah to keep an eye on him. He was still up to something, but if it was reassurance that he'd changed or some more complex scheme, she didn't know. She had every intention of keeping her eyes open, though.

"We must go now. There is much to prepare. It was a pleasure to finally meet you properly, Ms Smith."

"And you," Sarah replied. Benny didn't think Sarah would ever trust him completely, but they'd both worked with people they couldn't trust before.

Benny hugged Sarah and followed Brax out the door. Whatever happened next, it definitely wouldn't be dull.


End file.
